Too bad I didn’t get this one for my birthday, it’s just as ol… young as yours truly. It’s a vatting of five casks (I believe it was done some time ago and further aged in a single cask, hence the 275 bottles) and it retails for £10,500. According to Harrods’ (quote): ‘Inspired by the elemental forces of Orkney and designed by renowned jewellery designer Maeve Gillies of MaeVona, New York, each of the 275 bottles produced is crafted by hand from sterling silver.’ And Harrods to add: ‘Regrettably, this product is non-returnable and non-exportable.’ Non-exportable? Missiles or cluster bombs are exportable, and this baby isn’t? This is a strange world… Or maybe does someone want to avoid paralleling?

Colour: mahogany. Nose: why am I not Steve Jobs or the Sultan of Brunei? As expected, this is quite stunning, rather drier and more mentholated and resinous than other very old HPs that I could already try. When I write ‘resinous’, I mean ‘good pine resin’, not what one can find in some fairly extreme young woodbombs. In short, no varnishy resin if you see what I mean. What’s quite striking is that it’s all rather medicinal at very first nosing, and rather closer to some old Islayers. Quite some camphor. As for the way it unfolds after that, it’s all rather epic I must say. At times wonderfully fruity (passion fruits and mango compote), sometimes waxy and ‘polished’ (furniture polish, sandalwood, humidor, tobacco), then we’re back on mint and camphor, then kumquats, then a magnificent spiciness (a precious mix), then roasted nuts (cashews, coffee beans)… It’s just endless. The complexity is amazing yet it’s all very coherent and sort of compact, as it does not go into several directions at the same time. As I sometimes say, it’s a movie-whisky, not a picture-whisky. Mouth: sure it shows its age a bit more than on the nose and sure it’s a tad too ‘concentrated’ (a little bitter oak, strong tea, strong liquorice) but I wouldn’t say that’s a problem, you just have to remember this is a 50yo whisky and respect it. Many spices, cloves, ginger, cinnamon, then bitter almonds, bitters, walnuts, orange zests… It’s also a tad artichoky at times (liqueur)… The background is fruitier, on more oranges and kumquats (crystallised). Finish: long, liquoricy and more herbal. Comments: right. The nose is absolutely fabulous in my opinion, while the palate is very, very nice but I think it’s maybe a tad woody and spicy. What’s sure is that it’s really high-end malt whisky and that no wealthy British resident will be disappointed. Remember, you can’t export it, at least if you buy it from Harrods’ ;-). SGP:372 – 91 points(95 nose, 87 palate).